Another Chance
by Captain Vox
Summary: Sam and Dean as females, their father taken by a creature they've never come across before- one good looking man in a long trench-coat who did more with the touch of two fingers than Dean had ever seen a monster do before. Samantha and Deanna will be up against Angels right away in this new universe of Supernatural, and the Angels have a new plan given by God.
1. Defeat

(A/N: Just became a fan of Supernatural, watched up to the latest episode in three weeks. It was a long and emotional month! Trying my hand at some fanfiction for it. Starting off with my first ever gender-bent fanfiction! Hope you enjoy.)

_Chapter One- Defeat_

Sammy sat in her second class of the day. She hated Saturday classes. It was a large lecture hall where the professor was so old he wouldn't have been able to learn their names had he wanted to try. It was a necessary class though. This was on the list of needed courses for the law degree she was going for. Of course, she had always known, deep down at least, that this was the job she would pursue. Sammy had grand ideas of the world she lived in, ideas of things could be better. Mostly, she wanted to help people. She knew also, in the back corner of her mind where she kept thoughts she didn't want to look too far into, that this quality was bestowed upon her by her father.

That was something she would never admit to her older sister though. Sitting in this class now she didn't have to worry about Deanna. Her sister was off hunting with their father and the two hadn't spoken in over three weeks. That was unusual but Sammy had been busy with finals coming up. Putting her mind back to her work, Sammy scribbled notes as the professor mentioned things that would be brought up on the test. Sammy only had a few finals to go then she would be handing off records to the six schools she had applied for early enrolment for. The Bachelor Degree would be a nice start, but she wanted more. She was looking for the fast track of a Master and PhD degree. Sammy had applied to schools where they had programs combining the two programs to a shortened one. In just another five short years, Sammy could be applying at a law firm.

The professor slowed his ramble, glancing at his watch, then up to the crowd of unrecognized faces. "Time's up. I'll see you all for your final." The smile was an ancient one, creeping into the crack's of his face.

Sammy wondered, with all his years, had he ever seen just what was out in the world? Probably not. He wouldn't be sitting around teaching the history of law making to a bunch of kids if he knew the real law and order of the world, the one that sat on the veil of most human imagining.

Packing up her things, Sammy was the last to leave. That was normal. She always felt that odd sense of being on the outside of things, not quite in with the rest of the crowd. And that was fine. Or so she told herself. Slinging the green military grade bag over her shoulder she felt the books and the small laptop clank against her back and headed out at the back of the crowd. She went back to the senior apartments, a few blocks away from the main school buildings.

She pushed open the door and dropped her bag next to the hall table, keys on top of the table. "Jess?" The lights were all off, but the shades were open to the afternoon sun.

"Kitchen!" The higher pitched tone of Sammy's roommate and girlfriend sounded out.

Sammy strolled in, rolling up the plaid sleeves of the blue and green shirt she wore over the gray t-shirt. "Hey baby." Sammy stepped up behind Jessica, who was at the stove, flipping grilled cheese sandwiches. She wrapped her arms around the other woman and kissed her neck.

"Figured you'd be hungry." Jess smiled, lifting the spatula up and turning so that Sammy could find her lips.

"Totally. That class is draining." Sammy pulled out a chair in the little space between the kitchen and small living room area where they kept a two person table and collapsed in it. She folded her arms on the table top and dropped her head atop her arms.

Sammy could hear her girlfriend moving about the kitchen, getting plates down and drinks out but she couldn't get herself to look up. Summer would be here soon and she was absolutely thankful for that much needed break. Seeing bare feet from the corner of her eye, Sammy tilted her head slightly and found Jessica looking down at her, a plate in one hand and a glass in the other.

"Beer?" Sammy sat up suddenly, taking interest in the glass.

"Nope, that's all gone. Just apple juice. It's all we had left." Jessica smirked and set the plate and cup down. "Don't you remember drinking it all up on us last night?"

"Honestly?" Sammy turned her lips into the frown and her eyes went wide, in the look both Jess and her sister described as the 'puppy dog' look. "Nope."

Jessica just sighed and went for her own food. They were almost done with everything, eating quietly except for the occasional odd remark about nothing in particular, when a knock sounded at the door. They both looked at one another oddly, and then Sammy put down the crust of her grilled cheese.

"I'll get it." She peeped through the hole and saw the back of a head, one that had nearly military grade short hair but still managed to look feminine. She frowned, thinking that it couldn't be who she thought. Tugging the door open, she watched the female turn around quickly and found herself looking into the large grin of her older sister. "Deanna? What are you doing here?"

"It's Dean...bitch." She pushed her way into the apartment, kicking off muddy shoes in the hallway.

Sammy figured she should just be happy the that shoes were coming off at all. "Oh bite me, jerk."

Dean had her hands tucked into a pair of baggy jeans. "Don't tempt me." The look she had on her face was joking, but it quickly dropped to a more serious frown. Sammy remembered this look. It was the same look Deanna had worn when telling a twelve year old Samantha that their dad wasn't going to be there for her birthday again because he was taking out a clan of vampires. It was the look of someone who had something of equal import and ass-sucky-ness to tell someone else. "Dad and I met some interesting new people and uh, well now he's missing."

"Missing? You mean shacked up somewhere with a couple of his closest friends? Jim, Jack, and Jose?" Sammy folded her arms over her ample chest, not liking where this was going, but ready to stand adamant against going anywhere.

"No, I mean, gone. Just disappeared. One of those things pushed two fingers to his forehead and they disappeared." Dean pulled her hands from her pocket and fell into the same offensive stance, arms over significantly more compact breasts.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Sammy leaned, trying to look around into the kitchen. She could see Jessica also leaned over and glancing into the hallway, probably looking for some explanation to the persons standing just inside the door.

Dean sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I just can't do this alone."

"Can't, or won't?"

"Both? Damn it, Sammy I don't know where to go from here. I have his journal, I have contacts I've never spoken to, and I have you. If you've got a better option for me I'm all ears." Dean put her arms out in a sarcastic shrug.

Sammy rolled her eyes and shook her head, bangs falling over her eyes. She brushed them aside. "No. I don't have anything."

"Samantha, who is it?" Jessica called out from the kitchen table, pushing the chair out to get up.

"Just a second!" Sammy turned her eyes quickly on her sister. "Just give me until the morning."

Dean watched her for a long minute of silence, pursed her lips, and then nodded. "Okay. I'll be back at eight." Dean peered down the hallway and into the kitchen, gave Jessica a little wave of her hand. When she turned back to Samantha she had a grin on her face, one that put little wrinkles in the corner of her eyes. "She's cute there Sammy."

Sammy just looked at her sister flatly.

"Fine." Dean held up her hands and backed up to the door. "Eight. Sharp." She pushed open the door and disappeared.

"So, who was that?" Jessica was still glancing down the hallway as if she could see Dean.

"My older sister, Deanna." Sammy looked at her plate and frowned, not feeling hungry any longer. "Um, we're having a bit of a family situation. My father has these...binges with alcohol and he's gone missing. I have to go with Dean tomorrow and go looking for him."

Jessica looked at Sammy and her face slowly fell into a frown. "Tomorrow? You have finals in four days, Sammy. You _have _to be here Thursday."

"I know, Jess. I'm not stupid."

"That's not what I was saying-"

"Well I'm not throwing my future away, I just have to help my sister."

"Yeah, I get that. I just wanted to make sure your head was in the right place. I saw how you talked about Deanna early on, when you weren't sure about this whole school thing."

Sammy narrowed her eyes and picked up her plate. "Well, my head's in the right place, trust me." She dumped the last pieces of sandwich away and put the dishes in the sink.

That night Jessica and Samantha lay in bed together, silence slightly awkward, and Sammy sought for something to say. She should probably apologize for getting snippy. Or reassure Jessica that she would be back by Wednesday. Sammy could tell Jessica was looking at her, lying on her side towards Sammy. Sammy was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She rolled over and caught Jessica's eyes.

It was Jessica's smile that finally broke Sammy. She smiled back slowly, brushed the wavy hair from her own face and spoke up. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you, but I will be back Wednesday. Dean just..." Samantha breathed in deeply, trying to word things carefully because she hadn't told Jessica about the true family history. "Dean doesn't handle these things well alone."

"Alright, it's fine." She moved closer to Sammy, curling up with her now. "Love you, Sam."

"I love you, too Jess." 

It was seven when Sammy sat up quickly in bed, panting and trying to escape the nightmare. Jessica had been bleeding in her arms and then the flames burst around them. Sammy could feel Jessica melting away in her arms but couldn't feel pain from the fire herself. Blinking quickly she looked around the room and found the bed next to her empty. Sammy jumped up, shaking the rest of the dream away.

"Hey, Jess?" She called out putting her feet on the carpeted ground and standing up. She turned for the little bathroom in their room and pushed the door open. Nothing. Sammy turned about, confused. Walking around the rest of the small school apartment, she came up empty.

"Damn it." Sammy found herself back at the bed. She fell back on it, sprawling her arms above her. 

Samantha screamed. She jumped up immediately on the bed scrambling to reach Jessica who was pinned to the ceiling, blood pooling across her lower abdomen and a silent scream formed on her face. Sammy's hands were on Jessica's shoulders when the fire sprang out, fanning about the ceiling and encompassing Jessica. Sammy yanked as hard as she could, but Jessica remained stuck, mouth moving in pained yelling but no noise escaping. As the fire licked her own hands, Sammy couldn't make herself leave the inferno.

Something else pulled her free. She felt arms wrap about her and she was suddenly thrown through the open doorway. Dean's face came up next to hers and Sammy yelled for Jessica. Dean wouldn't let her get to the woman on the ceiling though. The last Sammy saw of her girlfriend was the blackening remains crisping above their bed, tatters of clothing smoking as they fell to the floor. 

She noticed the tears only once they were outside and Deanna was herding her into the Impala. Sammy wiped them away from her cheeks and when she brought her hands back down she found she'd only replaced tears with streaks of blood.

"Sam... Sammy, look at me. Come on Samantha, you need to focus on me." The car engine fired up, noisily, and it almost drowned out the raging fire in Sammy's head. She tried to focus on Dean's voice. "I'm getting you out of here, then we're going to talk."

Sammy blinked heavily, panic seeping through her in waves. She leaned back in the seat, putting her hands over her face, not caring about the blood right now. She was mostly trying to breathe.

***

Dean wasn't sure what to do with her sister. Samantha could barely breathe as they pulled into the parking lot of the motel where Dean was staying. She helped Sammy inside and onto the edge of a bed but didn't know where to go from there. Dean had never been a great emotional support to anyone, and she was suddenly wishing she could be a bit more like her sister right now. Dean wasn't even sure what to say. The image of Jessica on the ceiling was seared into her mind as well, bringing back memories of when Dean had seen their mother in the same position, above Sammy's crib.

Opening up the fridge, Dean pulled out a couple of beers, popped the top and tossed one back. She handed the other over to Sammy who made a face but took it anyway. When both bottles were empty, which happened fairly quickly, the two girls found themselves across from one another just looking in disbelief.

"I wanted out of this life, Deanna. That's why I left. I was going to be something, someone else."

The words hurt Dean, making her chest restrict uncomfortably. She had always felt like Sammy was running away from her, hadn't liked who and what Dean was. These words only seemed to confirm it. "Look, we just need to find dad and then he can help us straighten all this out. First though, you really need to shower." Dean hoped her words were soft, because caring is what she was aiming for.

From the look on Sammy's face, Dean wasn't so sure she'd gotten it across that way. "How do you expect us to find him?"

"He left me the car, the journal. He didn't have time to grab anything more than a silver blade before that thing zapped him away to God knows where. But we have his journal, so we'll start with what you're best at." Dean smiled at her sister. "Research."

Sammy was shaking her head slowly back and forth. "Not here. I can't be here."

Dean nodded just as slowly. "Alright, fine. Let's get cleaned up then we can go."

"Fine."

As Sammy got herself cleaned up Dean took the time to recheck her weapons, make sure the salt rounds were loaded into two shotguns, and pack up the other things. She desperately needed to do some laundry, but that would have to wait until she was able to get them a few states away and into some new town.

They were out of the motel in twenty-three minutes, on the road in twenty-five and sixteen long hours later they were pulling into a small town with a cheap motel.

"How many beds you need?" The girl behind the counter glanced between Dean and Sam, obviously making some assumption Dean wasn't keep up with.

"Two, we're sisters." Sammy spoke up, taking lead on this interaction. Dean was famously not good with her own sex, preferring the easy way she was able to talk to men.

They got into their room and both took up beds, Dean taking the one closer to the door as usual. It wasn't a back of the mind decision, despite how long she'd been doing it. Samantha was her younger sister so it was up to Dean to take care of her. Looking over at the younger woman, Dean was at a loss though.

"Can I see his book?" Sammy held out her hand and looked at the tan bulging notebook next to Dean.

Glancing down at it, Dean lifted it in her black painted nails and glanced back up to her sister. "Yeah, here." She reached across the way and watched Sammy take it. Sammy's fingers were longer, nails painted pink. Sammy was also taller than Dean by a few inches. Sometimes, her younger sister liked to put on high heeled boots just to look even taller than Dean.

Dean watched her sister flipping through pages that their father had pieced together over the years, looking for something Dean had missed more than likely.

"What did the creatures look like? The ones that took dad?"

"It was only one. He looked human." Dean shrugged. "He had short messy brown hair. Looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple days, frowned a lot. His eyes were blue. About as tall as me and he was wearing a brown trench coat over a suit."

Dean watched Sammy frown and keep flipping through the book. "Any ideas on what it could have been?"

Dean shook her head. "Not a single one. That's part of why I came to you. You're um, well you're better at the research than I am."

Samantha didn't argue with that one. Instead, Dean watched her shut the book and look at her phone. "I need a laptop, I'll have to look more into the lore behind these things. Just, you, any details you can remember."

"Right. I've got one in the car. One sec." Dean jogged out to her black Impala and popped the backseat open. There was a computer case sticking out from under Sammy's hunting bag. She snagged it and turned back, looking at the door of the motel room. She could see Sammy's silhouette headed for the bathroom and Dean stood outside for a few minutes. She knew how Sammy would be feeling, having watched this murder actually take place, as Dean had watched their mother twenty years ago. The pain of watching that hadn't lessened for her, so she knew the raw pain of it for Sammy would be awful right now.

Walking back in, she found the bathroom door partially opened, and Samantha was bent over the sink, cupping her hands and collecting water in them. Dean watched her splash it over her face and when she came up, the look was heartaching. Samantha looked lost.

Coughing a little, Dean made sure she wasn't facing towards her sister. "I uh, got the laptop." She spoke loud enough so that Samantha would hear her over the running water. "You think they got free porn in this joint?" She threw up a wicked grin and turned towards her sister finally.

Samantha shot her a glare of disapproval. "You're not doing that while I'm in here."

"What else am I going to do while you're playing history nerd?"

The frown combined with the low furrowed brows always got to Dean, maybe more so than the perfect puppy-dog eyes Samantha had. "You could help," Samantha snipped.

Dean pursed her lips, lifted her eyebrows, and then shrugged and dropped the thoughtful expression. "Yeah. What do I do? There's only one laptop."

"I brought some books along. They're in my bag by the bed. A few are on ancient lore so I'm sure you'll come across something about these creatures in there. You were the one that saw him, so you'd have a better idea of what to look for anyway." Samantha was typing on the computer as she spoke now.

Rolling her eyes, Dean went around to the other side of the bed and lifted up the backpack. It was heavy as hell. "What the fuck, Sammy, how many books do you carry in this thing?" Dean dumped the contents on her own bed and found out. Five. There were five books, two of them were quite large, and one was literally falling apart at the binding. She moved that one carefully over on its own space.

"Just what I need. There are essential reading materials to a job like ours."

Dean just scoffed out a laugh. "Yeah, I've done fine so far without picking up too many of these things."

It was quiet for a moment, making Dean look up at her sister. Samantha had that frown again. "I'm surprised you actually know how to read, really."

"Shut up." The words were dragged out a little, sort of combining the them in a sing-song way, while still managing to have a flat tone about them. It was something Samantha had always laughed at. Dean lay down on the bed, on her stomach facing Sammy and started flipping through the books. Considering it was something they'd never seen before, she started on the older book, hoping that something to the description she had in her head could be found in its pages. Time was running out for their father, and she would not forgive herself if they didn't get to him.

"He's still alive, Dean."

"What?" She looked up from the book, having found squat so far.

"Dad, he's still alive. We would know if he wasn't." Sammy was giving her a soft sad look.

Feeling suddenly like she should be the one to be giving comfort and was an ass for not doing so, Dean nodded. "Yeah, I know Sammy. Don't worry about it. The answers are in here somewhere."

"Have you two had any luck on the demon that killed mom... and Jess?"

Dean's eyes flicked back up again to look at her. Slowly she shook her head. "Not really. We thought we were close once, but it ended up being a literal dead end. House full of ganked demon shells." Dean shifted on the bed, yanking her jeans up with her. "A couple of hunters had passed through just before us, following the demon's death trail. They didn't get anything from the demons about something as powerful as the one from that night."

"As powerful? So we're thinking he's not just the average demon?" Samantha frowned again, half closing the laptop and putting her full attention on Dean.

She felt scrutinized under this new line of questioning. The demon had always been a sore topic considering how long they'd been looking for the freak. Dean nodded with those pursed lips again. "About eight months back, we read up about another case like ours, tracked down some lower demon who told us what we were hunting would kill us, we couldn't stop it because it wasn't something we'd ever faced before." Dean shrugged. "So yeah, something new, but still demon and we're going to kill it Sammy."

"If we can find dad. Both trails are running cold already." The defeat in her voice annoyed Dean.


	2. Flying

Chapter Two- Flying

God had spoken to Castiel, briefly and in guarded words as was normal for him. He had given Castiel the name John Winchester, and said this time, they were to do it correctly. The balance of world rested on John Winchester's daughters and they were to be driven down a very direct path.

The only problem was, that path was spoken of too vaguely for Castiel to know what to do with the girls. Taking John was a precaution, trying to learn about their place in God's plans. It had been nearly two weeks now, and Castiel hadn't come any closer to learning what he needed.

Currently, John Winchester was napping on a cot in the far corner of the room. The place was sealed with Angelic runes so there was no chance of him escaping. Balthazar had helped him set the place against demons and most other creatures. The angel was a genius when it came to sanctuary work; Balthazar had even set in place a few spells against Hell Hounds, which could be real pains in the ass.

Standing in front of a window, marked white with an anti-demon symbol, Castiel could make out the large field, carefully mowed down so that one could see across it to the main road a couple miles out. He watched for anyone coming up the road, as Balthazar could fly himself directly here. Specifically he was waiting for that black Impala to come grumbling up the road. He'd seen it once, the night he took John away and wouldn't soon forget it.

"Still up? Do your kind sleep?" John's voice came from across the room. 

Castiel looked over his shoulder at the haggard looking man, hunting obviously taking its toll on him. He was half lounging on the cot, perched against the wall and watching Castiel through hard eyes. Trust was slowly gained when you kidnapped a person.

"No, we do not require the sustenance that your kind do."

"Even in a vessel?"

Castiel frowned at John, and nodded. "Of course not. My angelic nature has taken over the human form. Why would he need anything more?"

"Right..." John pushed himself further up, now on the edge and looking like he was going to get up.

Turning completely around, slightly wary of the hunter's intentions, Castiel watched the human curiously. He'd been trying to get the man to open up about his and his daughter's lives, to root out anything that might connect to God's cryptic message.

"So where's the other one? Obviously not out on a milk run." John stood, stretching out his popping joints. He looked about the place and then looked back to Castiel. He didn't seem to have anything devious in his mind.

"Looking for an object that might be needed by you and your daughters." Castiel's arms were at his side, trench coat long about him and comfortable. "We need the Hellfyre."

"Pardon, the what?" John narrowed his eyes and his thoughts echoed around the room like thunder. He did not trust Cas or Balthazar. And with the talk of Hellfyre, he was obviously questioning the allegiance the angel held.

Castiel could hear these thoughts and thought to dismiss them quickly, but remained silent. He turned again, looking out across the field. The quiet flapping of wings grabbed his attention, but he remained facing out. "Balthazar."

"No luck. There's a rumour that a demon has been let out who's working to find it and the Winchesters as well." ?" Balthazar's vessel's accent was a mix of Posh British and French, or so it sounded.

"Azazel, yes."

"No, another one Castiel. If Azazel finds the girls we still have John. But if this new demon finds them, he will not keep them alive as Azazel will." Balthazar came to stand next to Castiel.

From the corner of his eye, Castiel could see that Balthazar was facing John Winchester. That was probably good. The man was unpredictable. He'd already attempted to slip out of a window, pick a lock in the back room, and attempted slugging Castiel across the face. That ended rather unceremoniously for John, landing him with a broken knuckle and passed out on the cot after Castiel had glattened a palm to his forehead and bid him fall into a small coma.

Other than that, things had been going smoothly and John was starting to open up now.

"Who is it?"

"Crowley."

"God damn it..."

***

It was nearing two weeks since Samantha had been pulled from the burning down of her entire life. That was twice now, and this time she could picture it all quite clearly in her mind. She and Deanna hadn't gotten any new clues, but they'd found a case near them. They were now in Pennsylvania and had tracked down three mysterious disappearances in one town. Two men and one woman, not known to one another, went missing on the same night three weeks ago. They were all family oriented persons, upstanding members of society, and the girls were thinking demon possession.

They were currently in the Impala, headed for the County Sheriff's Office, both dressed in suits which had FBI badges attached at the hip.

"You have Bobby's card in case they ask questions?" Dean looked over to her sister from the driver's seat with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah, you had an extra in the dash." Samantha watched Dean turning her attention back to the road and she herself looked out the window at the town passing by. It was a widespread area, so it was all together possible the missing did not know each other. If that were the case, demon possession looked more and more likely, although most minor demons tended to pick out people who wouldn't go missing.

The Impala pulled up to a stop in front of an old fashioned law building and Sam and Dean climbed out. Sam's heels clicked on the sidewalk next to the dull thud of Dean's FBI issue near-combat style boots. As they walked in, they found themselves in a bustling building. Elevators stood to the right and a welcome desk to the left, with a stern looking older gentleman manning the counter. He was in a dark blue police uniform and staring straight at the girls. Sam didn't think the tight pencil skirt was going to work on this man, and she let Deanna take lead. She looked fantastic in the tight, straight pinstripe paints and matching half jacket. The white blouse beneath was simple and revealed the shape of her chest subtly.

Pulling the badge from her belt, Dean leaned her elbows on the counter in front of the man. "Hello," she paused long enough to look at his name badge, "Officer Len. I'm Agent Benatar and that's my partner, Agent Ford. We were sent down about some missing person cases, any idea who I could talk to about that?" The smile Samantha watched her give was devious, a twist up in the corner of her mouth that made her eyes practically wink at the man.

Samantha watched the easy way she handled the gruff guy and just a few short minutes later, they had visitor badges and were being sent upstairs to the Sheriff's Office. Deanna led the way, of course. The sheriff was a woman. Sam watched as Dean balked and looked quickly sidewise to her.

Smiling, Sam stepped up and offered her hand. "Sheriff, thanks for seeing us. I'm Agent Ford. We came to work some of your missing persons cases that could have crossed state lines."

"Perfect, nice to meet you. I'm Casey Wash." The blonde woman smiled taking Sam's hand eagerly. "We're low on help in that department. Unfortunately with a place like this, missing persons often stay missing."

"That's why they send us when we don't have bigger cases. We know those are the worst to try and work. So there were three in particular we were curious about, two males and a female went missing about the same time few weeks back?"

Casey nodded. "Sure, weird cases. We don't know of any connection they had to each other. No one they all knew."

"Mind if we take a copy of their case files? We've got our stuff all at a hotel in town."

"Sure thing, it'll just take a minute. We don't have much on them, mind you."

Sam smiled at her, hand on Casey's shoulder. "Whatever you have is fine. Really, it's more than we have at any rate." She watched Casey smile widely and hurry out to wherever the files were kept.

"God Sammy, you're such a lesbian. She's ready to climb into your pants."

Scoffing, Sam shook her head. "Whatever, we're getting we need out of her at any rate."

"It wouldn't be a bad thing, you know."

Looking over Deanna, she frowned not following where this was going. Then it clicked and she frowned in a negative way, eyes hard locked on Dean's. She couldn't believe her sister was suggesting she climb into bed with someone so soon after... "That's not happening."

"I'm just saying, it's not a bad thing and there's no fear of some attached commitment. With what we do, hook-ups are a lifesaver. Keeps you from being depressed and lonely a hundred percent of the time."

Samantha gaped at her sister. "Please tell me you're not in the habit of picking up guys when you and dad are on a case together."

"Well..." Dean just shrugged.

"Awkward, moving on." Samantha looked around the office, turning on her heels and trying to get more of a reading on this Sheriff. If this case took some time, it was likely they'd been seeing more of Casey and it was better to keep a friendly relationship there. It was a bland office, with a few awards pertaining to work. So, workaholic. They could definitely bond over that.

"Here you are, Agent Ford. If you need anything else, I left my card in there for you. Don't hesitate to call." Her hand rested a little too long on the folder, and moved up to touch Sam's when Sam reached for it. She let go after the tiniest of a caress.

Sam smiled again. "Thank you, and please, it's Lita."

"Have a good one, Lita."

Once they were back in the Impala Dean scoffed, chewing her nails down. "She didn't even glance at me."

"Yeah, you're old guard didn't give me much notice, so we're even."

"At least yours was attractive. Granted, not my thing, but attractive."

Samantha rolled her eyes and started looking through the files. There wasn't much there at all; some statements from family and neighbours, the times of disappearance, not odd behaviours, and no connections that anyone could locate. They may have a case, but they didn't have much to go on. This might be as dead as the leads they had for the demon that killed Jess and the thing that took their father.

A knock sounded on the door as they were both delved deeply into research. Dean's head snapped up first, looking from Sammy to the door and back. She stood, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder, which let her know to play back up. Samantha wasn't always comfortable with the headstrong, guns blazing older sister to take lead but it was set already.

Samantha stood up, grabbing the gun from the table, nothing that Dean had one in her hand already. Watching Dean's gun level against the door at head height, Dean pulled the door open slightly and looked out. "Can I help you?"

Outside stood a beautiful woman with long dark brown hair, curled and tumbling down past her shoulders. She had tanned skin a pretty oval face with pouty lips. "I know what you're looking for."

"What we're... we're not looking for anything." Dean was on the offensive, opening the door more and allowing the gun to make an appearance. Sammy reached back, half crouching towards the bag open on the floor next to the little motel table, looking for the holy water.

"That gun won't do much, and Sam, you won't move fast enough to save your sister with a little splash of holy water. Don't. Try me."

Both girls backed up, Sam having the flask of water in her hands anyway. Her mind raced for the exorcising incantation but it had been a while since she'd used it. _Exorcizamus te omnis... omnis immundus spiritus. _

The dark haired girl shivered but pushed her way in. "Sam, let's play nice huh?"

Samantha hadn't realized she'd been reciting out loud. "Omnis satanic potestas. Omnis-"

"Your father will die if you two don't get the Hellfyre."

Dean cocked the gun, her green eyes narrowing sharply and levelled the gun higher. "Finish it, Sammy. She's a demon and can't be trusted."

"Omnis icursio infernaus adversarii. Omnis-"

The woman turned and fled. Dean fired off three tight, consecutive shots but only hit door as it slammed behind the demon.

"Shit. What the hell was that?"

Samantha was panting now, adrenaline coming down and her mind spinning with what had just happened. "You didn't go after her..."

"I don't have anything to hold her with and I don't know the incantation by heart..." Dean moved to look out of the window. "She's disappeared anyway." Turning back to her sister, Dean sunk into a chair and shook her head. "It's bullshit, Sammy. Just some demon trying to mess with us."

"But, what if we do need something? What if she's helping because this big bad that has him, is something even demons don't want around?"

The two watched each other for long silent moments. Things were becoming quickly complicated.

Dean was standing in the office of Mr. Geldring, one of the missing men. His secretary was crying into a box of tissues. Dean tried her best not to grimace at the emotional mess but Sam wasn't here to save her from this one. Sam was off questioning the missing woman's husband.

"So, the last time you saw him, nothing seemed out of the ordinary?"

"No, nothing. B-business has been g-good." She sniffled heavily and Deanna offered a smile, hoping it looked sympathetic, not annoyed. "There h-hasn't been anyone upset and n-nothing...out of the ordinary."

"Right, and did he act differently at all?"

"No, he was just happy! I loved him. His s-stupid wife didn't do anything for him, I was everything! We were supposed to go away together and now he's just left. Probably with some stupid whore." The sobbing re-took itself deeply and Dean actually sighed out loud.

Turning away partially, Dean started out of the room. "Thanks, that's uh, that's it." She strolled in, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. This was not something she could deal with. Besides, if there really wasn't anything odd about him leaving, other than the suddenness, Dean didn't have a guess as to a cause other than a demon or a human reason.

She went back out to the Impala and climbed in, taking a second to breathe. Even though she had Sammy back, Dean was starting to wish that it was her and John again, on the road with simple ghost haunting, wendigos, and vampires. Dealing with demons and whatever that blue-eyed, trench-coat-wearing thing was, it was beyond what Dean wanted to have on his plate.

She wondered if Sammy was faring any better with her interview. Starting up the engine, Dean drove to the other side of the city and parked at their rendezvous. The weather was nice and he was parked next to a park. Stepping out and locking the car she moved into it, heading for a park bench just down the path a ways.

It wasn't often that Dean got to sit back and take a breath. Granted, she really shouldn't be doing that right now, but she had no lead to go on. It was better not to stress for now. Sammy would get something, she always did. She'd been an amazing asset to hunting when the three had worked together.

Leaning back on the bench, Dean reached her arms across it, claiming nearly all of it and closed her eyes. The feel of the wind was nice on her face, and the soft noises of people around the park soothed Dean's frayed nerves. She could pretend to be stress free all she wanted, but now she was finally feeling it slip away.


	3. Safe and Sound

Chapter Three- Safe and Sound

John Winchester was sitting at a small table, still trapped with the two 'angels' that were searching for some hellish object and his daughters. He hadn't told them anything yet, but he was starting to think the two might be on his side. He wasn't risking Deanna and Samantha on a maybe, though. John picked at the food before him, a couple of burgers and large order of fries from the nearest Burger King. He'd hoped they'd pick something more obscure so he could get some sense of what part of the U.S. he was in, but not luck on that attempt.

"Castiel?" John looked at the man, standing post yet again in the window. He was there almost every time Balthazar was out looking.

"Hmm?" He didn't bother to turn around and look at the Winchester.

John grimaced, annoyed with the dismissive gesture, but continued. "You know I'm not going to give up the girls unless I know more about what you want with them, what you want with me, and that object."

This time the angel did turn, a frown stamped on his neat features. Castiel walked over slowly, letting his arms fall from their crossed position over his chest as he took a seat across from John. "It is not my place to say."

"Who's place is it?" John popped a French fry in his mouth to keep from reaching out and strangling the man.

"God's." Castiel's voice held a tone of surprise, as if John should have known that answer.

Shooting him a confused look, John leaned forward. "Pardon me, God?"

"Where else would an angel get his orders?" Castiel leaned forward as well, taking some unspoken cue that some closeness was needed for this conversation.

If he hadn't been stolen by these men, John would find Castiel's lack of social graces amusing but right now it was grating on his last nerve. John sat back again and folded his arms over his chest. "Alright, what's a Hellfyre?"

Castiel stayed where he was and gave that hard stare at John. It was as if Castiel could see something more than what was on the surface of John's expressions. Sometimes, John felt like the angel was delving into his brain and he tried to shut down his thoughts whenever that happened.

"Alright, it's a weapon. It'll be used to stop the apocalypse."

"What kind of a weapon?"

Castiel gave the slightest shrug. "We're not sure. It's an ancient weapon, which hasn't been seen in millennia. It hasn't been needed."

Silence fell between them, and they took to studying each other again. John could almost see a human behind that mask that Castiel placed over his vessel's features. He was a soldier. Castiel reminded John a lot of Deanna, were she a man.

"We want what you want, John Winchester. The safety of your girls is paramount to our plans."

"Right, you want them safe long enough to throw them under the wheels of an apocalypse." John hadn't finished the food, but he had eaten all he was going to for now. It lay forgotten between their conversation. "If it's a Winchester you need, you already have me."

"It _has_ to be the girls." Castiel's voice deepened, if that were possible. His tone was edging on annoyance, more than likely at John's lack of understanding in this heavenly matter.

Waving a dismissive hand, John moved from the bench, back over to his cot. Instead of lying down, he paced the room. There wasn't a lot of space to move about, and he was feeling his old body starting to cramp in the tight conditions. He needed to stretch, to fight something. He wouldn't be any good to the girls if he couldn't keep in practice. He watched Castiel retake the sentinel stance at the window and briefly regarded the thought of attacking the man now that his back was turned. Last time, that hadn't well for John though. He brushed that thought away and gritted his teeth. He wasn't getting anymore about the girls from the angel tonight, that was pretty certain.

"How does Balthazar know how to find the Hellfyre, then?"

Castiel didn't bother turning about to answer him. "Balthazar was the weapons master in Heaven. He knows how to locate the items, even ones that have been locked away for years."

"Uh, wouldn't that be in Heaven, under his lock and key?"

The look that Castiel turned on John had him second guessing speaking up. "Things went missing with Lucifer's fall, things were created at Lucifer's fall. The Hellfyre, a weapon created to fight against him, went missing." Everything was stated in a flat, just-so tone that almost felt out of character even for the gruff angel.

John guessed that was a touchy subject and filed it away as something to use against him later.

By the time Balthazar made it back, John was feigning sleep on the cot once more. He had hoped he was timing this well, considering it was dark and there wasn't a clock about the place. His patience paid off. John listened as the angels moved across the room, beyond the table. He could hear every word as it carried easily in the quiet of the small space. 

"Someone doesn't want this thing found. We're going to have to call on some people we don't normally like dealing with." Balthazar's voice was whispered, but it was too strong to keep unheard.

Castiel, of course, had such a deep voice it carried naturally. "We can't-"

"What exactly were you told, Castiel? I need to know if I'm going to come up with how to find this thing. These limitations that keep popping up aren't helping." Balthazar sounded frustrated.

John was nearly holding his breath now. If they were arguing, if one had asked the other what was said, perhaps John would soon know, too. He tried to shift ever so subtly closer, rolling his shoulder and keeping his eyes closed. He picked up breathing again in case they glanced over, attempting to keep that even.

He could hear Castiel let out a frustrated sounding sigh, then stated in a tone of voice that sounded rehearsed, "My world will fall in flames, engulfed by ancients, and the blood of Angels shall be shed. All my precious children will lie in ruin and waste. Those Fallen shall rise once more. This cannot come to pass. Remember well this name, Winchester, and seek them out. One of light, and one of dark though unknown to either which shall bear each cross. Guard the daughters of John Winchester with your life, and their paths shall be walked at the appointed time. Seek to keep them from the hands of the Demons, and keep them from the heartache they shall bring onto one another. All shall unfold in it's time. All shall be well, this time."

"This time?" Balthazar mused, a little louder than he probably meant to. His voice fell down to a whisper once more, "He was vague enough, wasn't he?"

"That's what I've been trying to explain. I don't know what's to come of it all, but those girls must be kept safe from all harm, at any cost. If we cannot get John Winchester to bring them to us, we may have to retrieve them."

The sound of pacing could be heard, and with the frustrated sight that came with it, John could tell Balthazar was the one moving about. "How're we supposed to do that? We can't find the Hellfyre, and we're only the trail of that because of what a Demon said... now we have three things to locate and keep safe and have no idea where to start looking for any of them."

John shifted on the cot, away from them now. He'd heard enough for now and had some processing to do. It almost sounded like it was in his benefit to have the Angels find his daughters. They sounded like they truly wanted to protect them, and having something as powerful as these two watching over Deanna and Samantha could be a good thing.

If John knew Deanna, which he really did, he figured she'd have picked up Sammy by now. It was just a matter of whether or not Sammy would go along with her older sister. It was a fifty-fifty guess on John's part on which it would be. He hoped they were together, especially if the demons were coming after the two of them. Together, they stood a chance.

Falling into sleep, John let his subconscious ponder more of his situation.

Dean watched as Sammy took point on their next interview. They were with the second man's sister. The man who disappeared was a big time veterinarian with a large animal facility behind his house and an expensive looking office in town. They were currently sitting in that expensive office while the sister explained the daily routines of her brother and was at a loss because he didn't do anything out of the ordinary, aside from disappearing one day.

"He left from here?" Sammy leaned forward, her longer hair falling around her delicately.

Dean watched for a second, then turned about, scoping the place out as she listened. Nothing looked odd here, and there wasn't any sign of sulphur around, but then again, it had been a while since the event took place.

"Yeah, just walked out of his office and left without a word."

Something caught Dean's eye, something outside that had a good view of the street out front. "Hey, those camera's, they watch who comes in and out of here?"

The sister turned to look as well, sniffled a little, and nodded. "Yeah, and we have some on our building watching the other office. It's something my brother and the owner of that office set up."

"I think we'll need the footage from both, if you don't mind." Dean smiled that grin she gave when she'd proudly found something to break the case.

Nodding, the sister got up and hurried off to get them the footage Dean asked for.

"This could be a break. We'll be able to see if he was possessed." Sammy looked at Dean with bright eyes, expectant of a lead that would get them further than they'd gotten since leaving Stanford. She shifted her stance and glanced back out of the windows. "His eyes could show up on the film, and maybe we'll get an idea of where he was headed."

Dean smiled at her younger sister and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hope so, Sammy."

They found themselves back at the hotel, speeding through boring reels of security footage until Sammy scrolled to where the missing man showed up first. Sammy was up against the headboard, with the laptop perched carefully on her crossed legs. Her high heels were tossed off to the side of the door. Dean was on the other side, one leg crossed under her and the other dangling off of the bed. Her boots were still on and she was sitting forward, off the headboard, and leaning close to her sister. Sammy glanced over and hit play. They both looked back at the screen and watched, wide eyed.

Through the footage from across the street, they could see the man was walking out of the door and he happened to look right at the camera, with a frown. He was shorter, a little thick. His hair was dark, just starting to thin, and he had a five o'clock shadow just starting to come in. He was dressed in a black suit with a white undershirt. Despite his coming on in years, he was actually rather attractive. Until you got to his eyes. They were black, black as any demons, and cruel looking beyond what a human could display.

The girls watched him walk out of the door and onto the street. As he turned right and actually sauntered down the sidewalk they lost sight of him.

"The vet's camera may have an angle we could see him on." Dean was reaching for the next disc, then looked at Sammy with hope in her eyes. Funny, her sister's emotions could be rather contagious.

Putting it in, they hit the jackpot.

"Holy crap, Dean, that's all three of them!"

They watched as a woman, shorter with a pretty round face and a petite frame walked up next to their vet. She had on a leather jacket and beautiful curly brown hair fell around it. Her eyes were also black and the two demons looked at one another with a smile. Then the third man entered. He could really only be described as rugged. His face had the lines of age, especially when he smiled a sadistic grin. Then the girls both gasped and Sammy pulled the laptop closer. He turned enough towards the camera that the flash of swirled yellow eyes gleamed back at them.

"Fuck me, it's him!" Dean yanked the laptop from her sister and hit pause, a good shot of all three demons. "That's the fucking demon, Sammy. We found him!"

Dean watched as the smile Sammy originally had from this revelation slid from her face, turning to a grim, serious determination. Dean let her own smile fade and they hit play again. The three climbed into a deep blue 1968 Chevy Camaro SS 396, the woman crawling behind the seats of the two-door ragtop.

"I can get that license plate number, there as they're pulling out." Sam paused it, took a screen shot and saved it onto her laptop.

"They're heading out...west? We'll have to see what major roadways are west of the vet's."

"Hopefully a main highway. If we can get after them, Deanna..."

Letting a smile touch the corner of her lips, Dean tried to keep that positive attitude for Sammy's sake. She was feeling as though hope was too much. Even if they did follow after the demons, they weren't any closer to finding John and Dean was worried that there wouldn't be reason to look if he stayed missing much longer. Of course, she'd never share that particular thought with Sammy.

Dean shifted up off of the bed and grabbed her cell phone. "Give me that plate number, I'll have Bobby check it out. And can you find out what roads are west of the vet's?"

"Sure," Sammy read off the numbers and went to typing away on the computer again.

Dean rang Bobby Singer's number, hoping he'd be around and not lost in the junkyard somewhere. Bobby picked up on the third ring, and Dean smiled. She had her hip perched against the small table in the motel. "Hey, it's me."

"Deanna? You have Sammy with you? I've been trying to get a hold of John, where is he?"

"Yes, yes, and we're not sure. I need you to run a plate, see if you can work some magic and get some sightings from this thing."

Bobby took a second to respond, probably trying to make some sense of Dean's quick answer. "Uh, yeah sure. This some lead to get yer father?"

"Hope so." Dean didn't want to let on that they would be follow the Yellow Eyed Demon in case Bobby suddenly felt the need to be protective.

"I'll call you back with whatever I find out. How's Sammy?"

Dean glanced over, seeing her sister enveloped in the computer she spoke softly. "She's okay. You know, it hasn't been long since..."

The gruff grunt was response enough. They didn't need to speak much to understand each other. None of the hunters did. They hung up and Dean turned to watch Sammy do her thing.

Sammy shut the laptop cover and swung her legs over the bed. "I want him dead, Dean."

"Yellow Eyes? I know." Dean swallowed at the intensity of her stare.

"More than that, though. I had... everything was perfect and he took it all away."

Dean tried not to grimace. It hadn't been perfect to Dean. She hadn't had her sister, had lost some of the direction in her life not being able to look out for Sammy. Although Dean was sad for what Sammy lost, there was s selfish part, a small voice in the back of her head that recognized the selfish side, that was happy Sammy was hunting with her again.

"We'll rip him apart, I promise." It was all Dean trusted herself to say.

Sammy moved over to the table with Dean, leaning across it. "Look, I'm sorry that I left you but I-"

"Oh come on, let's not get all sappy."

The flat look Sam gave with the slight tilt of her head, drawing her lips in a slash had Dean stop talking. "We're having a chick-moment whether you want to or not because I want to say something to you."

Deanna grimaced very visually this time, making sure to twist her lips and nose in an unattractive manner. "Fine..."

Sammy chuckled at the look at little and Dean felt a small amount of accomplishment. "I'm sorry that I left because I miss you, I miss us. But this wasn't the life I wanted, and you know that. I've been fighting it since I first learned about what was out there. That night in the motel when I found dad's journal... you tried to keep me from this life, too."

"Yeah, I did when I wanted you to be a kid. Now I just..." Dean shook her head, not willing to give this much of herself yet.

"Just what?"

"You know what, it's just us against everything and you're not here." It was more than that, so much more and Sammy would understand if she explained, but Dean didn't want to. She wanted it to be something Sammy could conclude, could want, herself. Having to say it did two things, one it was uncomfortable because Dean hated talking about this shit, and two, it ruined the meaning behind the two of them. Both against the world? It wasn't that way if one wasn't in it.


End file.
